Cantor Sticks Up for Bachmann Over Muslim Controversy

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor defended Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., in the controversy over possible influence by the Muslim Brotherhood in our government.

Bachmann and four other congressmen sent letters last month to five federal agencies demanding probes of a conspiracy by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist causes to influence U.S. foreign policy. A letter to the State Department cited Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and House Speaker John Boehner criticized the attack on Abedin in strong terms.

Cantor stuck up for Bachmann in an interview with Charlie Rose on CBS, Politico reports. “I think that if you read some of the reports that have covered the story, I think that her concern was about the security of the country. So it’s about all I know,” Cantor said.

Rose asked Cantor if he is worried that the Republican Party is generating intolerance. “There is equal opportunity of intolerance, unfortunately, in this country,” he responded. “To me, it’s really important for us to remember that we are a country that appreciates freedom and diversity,” the majority leader said.

“I feel very strongly about the fact that we are a nation of inclusion. We’re built on the waves of immigrants that have come to these shores. I myself am a member of a minority faith and have enjoyed the ability to pursue and practice that faith unlike I could anywhere else in the world.”

Cantor isn’t the only prominent Republican to defend Bachmann. Former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said, “There weren’t allegations, there was a question.”